The Escapists

In THE ESCAPISTS, Wizard Top Ten and multiple Eisner Award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Runaways, Y the Last Man, Ex Machina) tells the tale of three aspiring comics creators with big dreams, small cash, and publishing rights to one forgotten Golden Age hero–The Escapist!

Inspired by Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, this is Vaughan’s love letter to his chosen medium, a story about what it takes to start out with nothing in Cleveland, Ohio and end up with a comic so hot a major corporation wants to steal it from you! Brilliantly interweaving the lives of the creators with the world of their creation, artists Steve Rolston and Philip Bond bring the comic-booking trio Maxwell Roth, Case Weaver, and Denny Jones to life, while the inimitable Jason Shawn Alexander and Eduardo Barreto illustrate the thrilling trials and exciting extrications of the new- and old-Escapist!

Dark Horse Comics released both softcover and hardcover collections of this series but I’m not sure how easy they are to find now. If you do get your hands on one, you’ll see that the Alex Ross cover is even nicer in person, with a shiny spot varnish on the Escapist character. But the best part of this collection (aside from Brian’s brilliant story) is the amazing introduction written by Michael Chabon. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s almost like an epilogue to Chabon’s novel, as the fictional Sam Clay meets a young boy at a comic convention. Yeah, that’s all I’m gonna say.

I’m extremely happy to have been involved with this project. I’ve wanted to work with Brian for a while and this story was a good fit for me. Philip Bond has been a pretty big influence on me artistically, so it was fun working from his designs. And I sure as hell can’t complain about being coloured by Dave Stewart! There were so many great people involved, it’s crazy.

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